Could Hydrogen Sulfide Hold The Key To A Long Life?

According to science daily,Could Hydrogen Sulfide Hold The Key To A Long Life? Studies done at Washington University in St. Louis shows "In an effort to understand the mechanisms by which hydrogen sulfide induces hibernation in mice, the researchers turned to the tiny nematode, a workhorse of laboratory science because its biology is similar in many respects that of humans. For example, like humans, nematodes have a central nervous system and the ability to reproduce. The worms also are ideally suited for studying life span, because they normally live for only two to three weeks."

 

C. elegans. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, the chemical that gives rotten eggs their sulfurous stench has now been shown to significantly increase life span and heat tolerance in the nematode worm, or C. elegans. (Credit: Washington University in St. Louis)

This research was performed by Mark Roth, Ph.D., a member of the Center's Basic Sciences Division, and Dana Miller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in Roth's lab.

The researchers found, to their surprise, that nematodes that were raised in a carefully controlled atmosphere with low concentrations of H2S (50 parts per million in room air) did not hibernate. Instead, their metabolism and reproductive activity remained normal, their life span increased and they became more tolerant to heat than untreated worms.

The H2S-exposed worms lived eight times longer than untreated worms when moved from normal room air (22 C or 70 F) to a high-temperature environment (35 degrees Celsius, or 95 F). Roth and colleagues replicated these results in 15 independent experiments.